This invention relates generally to tags for vending garment belt, and more particularly to tags which enable one to readily sever a garment belt to customize it to a desired size.
Garment belts are frequently mass marketed by vendors by displaying a large number of belts a display rack. The belts are commonly segregated by size, color, and any other attributes deemed relevant to the purchaser. Typically in the vending of belts in this manner each belt may include a tag or hanger bearing some indicia relating to the belt, e.g., its size, color, manufacturer/vendor, etc.
Some garment belts, particularly those intended for men, are made sufficiently long to cover a range of sizes and are designed to enable the purchaser to cut the belt to any desired size within a designated range, e.g., xe2x80x9call sizes to 42 inches,xe2x80x9d and thereby customize the belt to the purchaser""s waist or pants size. To that end such belts typically include a buckle which is constructed so that it can be removed from the belt end to which it had been attached (e.g., the xe2x80x9cflatxe2x80x9d end of the belt) so that the user can cut the belt to the desired length. The buckle may include a throat or space into which the flat end of the belt extends and a clamp or some other releasable securement member, e.g., at least one set screw, to hold that belt end within the throat/space. In order to custom size such a belt all that the purchaser has to do is to sever the belt at any position from the buckle back toward the tip so that the length of the severed section is his/her waist size, and then replace the buckle on the square end of the newly severed belt section.
One drawback of this arrangement is that in order to ensure that the belt is customized the desired length, the purchaser has to have some accurate means to measure the length of the belt from its free end tip to the point at which it will be severed. Typically the means utilized has been a conventional ruler, tape measure, yard stick, etc.
Accordingly, a need exists for a device for use in vending belts which overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art to facilitate the custom sizing of garment belts.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a tag for use on a garment belt to facilitate the custom sizing of the belt.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a tag for use on a garment belt, wherein the tag includes measuring indicia to facilitate the sizing of the belt to any desired length.
It is still a further object of this invention to provide a measuring tag for use on a garment belt which is easy to use to custom size the belt to any desired length.
It is still a further object of this invention to provide a measuring tag for use on a garment belt which is simple in construction.
It is still a further object of this invention to provide a measuring tag for use on a garment belt which is low in cost.
It is still a further object of this invention to provide a tag for use on a garment belt, wherein the tag includes merchandising indicia as well as measuring indicia to facilitate the sizing of the belt to any desired length.
These and other objects of this invention are accomplished by providing a measuring tag for releasable securement to a garment belt, e.g., a reversible belt, to facilitate the cutting of the belt to a desired size, e.g., size xe2x80x9c36xe2x80x3 pants.xe2x80x9d The belt includes a buckle having a throat or slot into which a first end portion of the belt may be received to releasably secure, e.g., clamp, the buckle to the belt.
The measuring tag comprises an elongated planar strip-like member having a pair of opposed surfaces, e.g., a front surface and a rear surface. The periphery of the strip-like member includes a top edge portion, a bottom edge portion, and a pair of longitudinally extending opposed side edge portions. The top edge portion includes an ear projecting outward from it. The ear has an end wall, e.g., a portion folded back over itself, to form a stop surface against which the first end portion of the belt abuts to hold the belt in position thereat. The ear of the tag is sufficiently thin to enable the throat or slot of the buckle to readily receive the ear and the contiguous first end portion of the belt to releasably secure, e.g., clamp, the tag to the belt.
The first surface, e.g., rear surface, of the tag has measuring indicia, e.g., side-by-side rulers showing belt sizes in inches and pant sizes in inches extending along at least a portion of one of the longitudinal extending side edge portions of the measuring tag.
The tag is formed of a material, e.g., plastic or plastic-coated cardboard or paper stock, which is severable by a scissors at various locations along the indicia to sever the tag and the belt thereat, whereupon the remaining length of the belt is of a desired size as indicated by the indicium at the location at which the tag is severed.
In accordance with one preferred aspect of this invention the second surface of the measuring tag, e.g., the top surface, also includes indicia thereon. That indicia may comprise product identification indicia, e.g., promotional text, graphics, etc. Thus, the tag may be used for merchandising display purposes when mounted on the belt before custom sizing of the belt.
The measuring tag may also include an opening in it located spaced from the end at which the ear projects and through which the belt is extended to further secure the tag to the belt.
Another aspect of this invention constitutes the combination of the measuring tag and the belt.